Arizona’s first trip to Los Angeles since the Pac-12 era ended was a successful one, with the Wildcats rallying in both halves to beat UCLA on Friday night.
The UA trailed by 10 in the first half and eight
in the second half but managed to earn its second win this season over a ranked opponent. It improved Tommy Lloyd to 7-3 against UCLA and Mick Cronin and avenged last year’s loss to the Bruins in Phoenix.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Lloyd said. “I’ve got a ton of respect for competing against Mick. And he does a great job scouting. I knew coming into the game, I had an idea, maybe in my mind’s eye of some things I thought they would do but I was guessing. Sure enough they did them. It took us a while to find our way in the game, and guys hung with it. It was a gritty effort, it wasn’t pretty by any stretch.”
Here’s what Lloyd and guard Anthony Dell’Orso, who scored 20 points off the bench, said afterward:
On the game overall: “It was just kind of a game of adjustments. They fell into a couple actions that were successful, that allowed them to go on a run, and they made the shots to go with it, and then we kind of fell into a couple actions at the very end, and fortunately the shots went in on them. Great battle, and we’re going to learn a lot from this, but a ton of fun.”
On Jaden Bradley’s play down the stretch: “JB has got a great ability to figure it out, and then just a great ability, with his experience, to be fearless and not be afraid to make the big plays.When he kind of got that kick out from Mo on that broken play, and that pass was going to him, I had a really good feeling about that three. It was just a big time shot and in, and then the finish is down the stretch of the game were impressive.”
On the veterans stepping up when freshmen struggle: It’s really important. We know that the young guys are getting a lot of attention, but make no bones about it, we need our vets. They’ve been in these games before.”
On having seniors come off the bench: “I’m asking them to make some sacrifices, just because I’m trying to have a big picture in mind. But I knew doing this, I had a good feeling that Delly would own it. May not love it, but I bet he’ll own it, and he’ll make the best of it. And tonight was impressive, to come in and have 20 points, in the Intuit dome against UCLA on a Friday night in November was an amazing performance. We were down 10, and he kind of got us back in the game and helped us get a lead at halftime, and then obviously hit a huge three. He and JB hit those two threes got there in that right slot, which were just huge plays. And then just the reliability at the end of the game for free throws. I mean, you know how much better it feels to be up four points than two or three in that last possession? That that takes some cojones to make those free throws, and he did that.”
On keeping the UCLA series going: “I think it’s extremely important. Both fan bases, I don’t know if it’s a love/hate deal, not for me, but I think there’s just a mutual respect between the programs. And I think us programs in the West Coast need to protect each other. There’s not a lot of us out here. There’s a lot of space out west, and only a select few programs that are that are playing at that highest level, and us and UCLA happen to be a couple of them. So I think just the matchup is great for our fan bases, and I think it’s great for college basketball, and I think it serves both programs well. There’s no shame in losing to UCLA, and I don’t think there’s any shame in losing to Arizona, and I think both programs are better for the game.”
On the freshmen struggling: “They just have to keep learning. The adjustments are going to come. I knew that they were gonna load up on Koa today, and you can kind of prepare him for it. But at the same point, one of the things that makes Koa good is how physical and how aggressive he is. So I didn’t want to, kind of like overdo it with him and have him going into the game fearful, but I think it’ll be a great learning experience for him. They were the gaps. They were attacking his spins. But for me, I see that as an opportunity that we can create a lot of offense out of that, in, so I can’t wait to get a hold of the film for him, for Brayden, and for them to kind of see what adjustments they can make that can make the game coming a little easier for them.”
On neutralizing UCLA’s Donovan Dent: “We feel like we got good size and we felt pretty comfortable if he got downhill, and we just didn’t give him absolute easy layups, and we didn’t foul him, we wanted to see how many of those shots he could make in size and traffic. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he would have made some, but you kind of have to pick your poison a little bit.”
On playing Tobe Awaka and Motiejus Krivas together: “I’m comfortable doing it. I think Tobe, he’s a little more experienced in it. I felt when he was at the game at the 4 there was a real physical presence. Tobe is also good defensively. I thought he was really good in those switches tonight and then just was a monster on the boards. He kind of had some just vicious drives to start out that second half. It may not be aesthetically pleasing to certain people, but I think it’s tough to play against, and that’s what we’re aiming for.”
On the late-game execution: “We an found an action. Ken Nakagawa, one of our assistants, kind of gave me an idea, and we ran with it. And it kind of put JB in a good spot those last few possessions. And then we decided just to get a feel for what switching would feel like. And fortunately, we switched, and I think the ball kind of got out of the Dent’s hands a little. Bilodeau wasn’t able to kind of get a rhythm three. He creates situations where, if you don’t switch him, he pops and puts a lot of stress on your defense. We just wanted them to try to make individual plays over our size. And then offensively we found one little action that worked. And thank God we got up four and the game ended, because I’m sure if it would have went a few more minutes, UCLA would have had an adjustment we would have had to figure out. I mean, that was just kind of a game of adjustments in the second half.”
On Motiejus Krivas’ play: “Mo is, I don’t want to say it’s just scratching the surface, but I think there’s some merit to that statement. He’s really gonna impact the game. He’s started to impact the game defensively. He’s starting to impact the game on the glass. You felt his size out there tonight. He kind of got a few jump hooks in there at the start of the second half, and he’s really good at that. We got to get a little more adept at finding him, on some of those post ups and really utilizing that as a weapon within our offense.”
Dell’Orso on getting downhill: “I think something that goes unnoticed is that part of my game. Before I came to this school that’s really all I did. I was a very downhill guy, free throw line guy. And then obviously coming to the bigger level, you get met with physicality, big guys, and you kind of have to adapt. So that’s something that in the offseason that I’ve gained this muscle, and this understanding of the offense, that’s something I’m trying to bring back, in terms of, not really something I have to develop. It’s already been there. It’s just kind of been hidden.”
On being in the game late despite not starting: “It feels great.When you have a coach that backs you and trust in you, that’s all you can ask for. It gives you the ultimate confidence to go out there and play your game. And if things go good, it’s good. If things go bad, you know he’s got you no matter what. So that all gives me ultimate confidence. And I think he does that to a lot of our guys, and that just makes us go down the stretch with that confidence that we can perform and execute and get the win like tonight.”
On the crowd at Intuit Dome: “The crowd was great. Obviously, we always have a good fan base. I thought UCLA had a great fan base tonight, but you got to do your best to kind of block that out.”
On scoring 20 off the bench: “We scout all week, obviously, we have practice so you have a good understanding of what teams are going to do. But at the end of the day, you just got to be aggressive, you got to play your game and kind of be reactionary in a way. And I just came in and kind of saw areas that we knew as a team going into the game that we could exploit. And the opportunity presented itself, and my teammates found me in great spots, and I was able to knock it down tonight.”
On the freshmen: “We all know they’re great players. I think everyone knows they’re great players, whether they’ve proved it on this stage yet or not. We don’t take that as a doubting factor. The best thing I can do, JB, Tobe us vets, Krivas, we can just take them under our wing, kind of let them know that we live to see another day, there’s plenty of basketball to be played. Watch the film, good or bad, and just come back and get to practice and don’t stress about it, really, because they’re good enough guys so they can take the criticism and move on.”
